1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for releasably securing objects together and, more particularly, to rigging devices that are simple to use without requiring skills in knots and knot-tying.
2. Description of Related Art
There are known in the prior art various means for attaching banners or fabric displays, including plastic pull-ties or clamping devices. Plastic pull-ties are popular as they are inexpensive and certainly easy to use, but they cannot be reused or loosened, and they can injure the banner or fabric display by bunching and require a sharp blade or knife to cut loose, thereby chancing a cut or injury to the person cutting the pull-tie open. Clamping devices likewise can injure the fabric of a banner or fabric display and are mostly clumsy and unwieldy, requiring special tools or a railing to which the clamp may be secured.
Years of experience in the banner and flag industry have shown that many persons cannot tie effective knots. This may be due in part to the fact that knot-tying is becoming a lost art, or that an aging populace is prone to medical conditions that adversely affect manual dexterity. Moreover, there are few simple and temporary attachment or rigging devices that are lightweight, easy to use, reusable and attractive to the viewer and user, particularly in fields such as on-site installation of banners, fabric displays, curtains and artworks.